History
The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) was conceived from discussions between researchers in the EV field in Paris in 2011. In the following years, the interest in studying extracellular vesicles was intensifying worldwide since EVs are involved in various mechanisms of cellular communication in various models of infectious and inflammatory diseases. The intensification of these studies then led to the creation of this Society. To gather more information and allow interaction among the groups in Latin America, we developed a survey to identify the research groups that work in the EVs field and their characteristics, which we observed to be distinct from the other countries/regions. The survey consisted of 11 questions sent to more than 150 researchers from where we gathered information from more than 50 research groups in Latin America.
Based on this survey, we could obtain a landscape of the main fields of EV study in Latin America. it was observed that 45% of the research areas focused on EVs in hosts and pathogens (viruses, parasites, fungi, and bacteria). This result is distinct from research groups in North America, Europe, and Asia, where the main focus of research is EVs' roles in cancer, inflammatory and neurological diseases. This research topic is observed in 29% of Latin American groups. Other research areas are related to other diseases, non-infectious conditions, and EVs as diagnostic tools. In addition, 62% of the participants were female scientists and PIs, most of them from Brazil and Argentina. Finally, it is essential to emphasize the amazing accomplishments our scientific society can reach when working together, with the example of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then scientists all over the globe came together to fight Sars-CoV-2; in less than a year, we developed a vaccine that prevented the death of millions of people. This example demonstrates that together we are more robust and fostering spaces for exchanging ideas and interaction is essential to bring us closer.
Latinev committee
The network organizers of integrating extracellular vesicles research groups from América Latina facilitated a platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration, strengthening the scientific community's efforts in advancing EV research in the region.
Ana Claudia T Torrecilhas – Professor at UNIFESP, SP Brazil
Lysangela R Alves – Reasearcher at FIOCRUZ, PR Brazil
Patricia Xander – Professor at UNIFESP, SP Brazil
Wagner Nagibe – Web designer FIOCRUZ, PR Brazil
